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Details of hillfort on Pastscape
(SP 523440) Ancient Earthwork (TI) (on Thenford Hill). (1)
The camp of 'Arberry Hill' is situated by the side of Banbury Lane, somewhat more than a mile N of Thenford village. The earthwork is irregular, but nearly the segment of a circle, extending c 150 yds along the N and W edges of the hill. c 7 yds below is a ledge or lynchet, from which a second declivity runs to the base of the hill. (2)
'Arbury Hill' Thenford, may belong to the Early Iron Age. (3) The ploughed-down remains of what was apparently a sub-circular univallate fort, c 250 m in diameter, can be traced. (4)
The remains of a small contour hillfort situated c 600' a.s.l. in a commanding position. Modern farming and quarrying have destroyed and mutilated most of the work but the extant remains plus air photo evidence substantiate the classification. See annotated 25" survey. The 'ledge or lynchet' (Auth 2) which is also visible on APs is a natural feature and does not form a coherent part of the earthwork. Over the last three years Mr D J Barrett (local amateur archaeologist) has found potsherds at SP 52224392 which are probably IA but have not yet been classified. (5) No change since report of 14 4 70 (6)
Surveyed on 1:2500 MSD. (7)
Iron Age settlement (SP 523440) has been described as a hill fort, but it was probably no more than a lightly defended farmstead. A large area of Neolithic or Bronze Age worked and waste flints has been found in the SE of the site, and scatters of flints including microliths lie outside the enclosure (SP 5234390, 52054385). Iron Age and Roman pottery has come from the E part of the site. The Bronze Age hoard found in the parish [SP 54 SW 7] may be from this site. [RCHM plan].(7)
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Details of hillfort on Pastscape
SP 99787222. Thorpe End Iron Age, Saxon and Medieval settlement. Scheduled. The site comprises an Iron Age slight univallate hillfort, and the Thorpe End early Saxon and later Saxon settlement. This site is known as a result of the archaeological survey and excavation carried out as part of the Raunds Area Project. (1)
An Iron Age univallate hillfort and remains of both Saxon and Early Medieval settlements near Thorpe House Farm. The monument lies to the south of Raunds. Remains include ditches, buildings , features and finds revealed through archaeaological survey and excavation. The Iron Age evidence consists of a single ditched enclosure measuring 95 metres by 65 metres containing evidence for a number of circular buildings thereby indicating occupation at some point in this period. From the Saxon to Early Medieval period, 6th century to 1066 AD, the site formed one part of a large settlement. See also the further Anglo-Saxon settlement evidence further to the south west at Thorpe End (TL 07 SW 19).
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Details of hillfort on Pastscape
[Area centred SP 73805835] HILL FORT [OE] (1)
Hunsbury Hill - An IA Hill Fort, occupied from the 4th cent. BC to the 1st cent BC or AD. Excavations for Iron Stone at the end of the 19th cent yielded great quantities of finds now in the Northants and British Museums. Most of the interior was disturbed by this iron-working, but a small area to the SW remains intact. Fortifications [1936], consist of a single, circular rampart and ditch, with a simple entrance to the SE and possible one in the NW. A second ditch, 80 yds away, was found in 1903. The interior of the fort was riddled with 300 or more pits, of varying sizes - six or seven were walled and one possibly contained a crouched skeleton accompanied by an iron chariot tyre, bridle bit and other pieces of iron. Several unattached skulls were found, one with three holes bored in it. Some 150 querns of the heavy bee-hive type establish a 'Type Site' while the quantity of iron objects and slag suggests early iron-stone working. Finds included flint implements, (some barbed and tanged arrowheads), and pottery and other objects of E.I.A. to Roman date. (2-8)
A vast collection of material from Hunsbury is held in Northampton Museum, and incorporates rare objects including the 'Hunsbury Scabbard' (which originated the type). The small finds are of both I.A. 'A' and 'B' cultures, but the latter predominate. Final conclusions indicated an undefended settlement of I.A. 'A'; later defended in I.A. 'A' with defences modified in I.A. 'B'. Sitting on the Jurassic Ridge it is presumed to have lost its importance as a trading centre in the 1st cent AD. The Hill Fort is now farmed within: it consists of bank, ditch and counterscarp. Iron working has lowered the interior, giving the main rampart a false height. The outer ditch (authy 2b) is not visible, either on the ground or on air cover. Resurveyed at 1/2500. (9)
Hill Fort (SP 738583) usually known as Hunsbury stands on the summit of a rounded but prominent hill, on Northampton Sands, at 110m above OD. The surrounding land slopes only gently in all directions, but the position affords extensive views over Northampton and the whole of the upper Nene Valley to the N, NE and NW as well as to the S and E. (10)
Defences - The fort now consists of a roughly elliptical area 1.6 ha. in area, bounded by an inner rampart and central ditch and with an outer rampart on the NW, N and NE sides. Almost the same picture is recorded by Morton (1712, 537) and by Bridges (1791 I 358). It is possible that there was an outer ditch, and one is mentioned as having been found `in the external ironstone diggings' in an account of 1891 (Baker 1891-2, 66), though whether this was an external ditch to the fort is not clear; other lengths of ditch were discovered early in this century to the NW and SW of the fort, about 90 yards from the inner ditch (George 1915-18, 3; OS 2 IN map 1901 edn) On an air photgraph (in NMR) are vague cropmarks just outside the fort on its SE unquarried side. These may represent an outer system of ditches. Elsewhere, if they ever existed, they have been entirely removed by ironstone quarrying. The defences have been sectioned three times. The first was in 1880 when a tramway access was cut through the NW side. Dryden (1885-6, 55) made drawings and a brief note on the exposed faces but these only indicate that the ditch was of U-shape and had been cut to a depth of just over 3m into the underlying ironstone and that the inner rampart stood just under 3m above the external ground surface. The other sections were cut in 1952 by R.J.C Atkinson as part of a small excavation on the site. The results have not been published in full and the following account is based on notes made on a lecture given by Atkinson in 1968 (in NM Records). Two trenches were cut across the inner rampart and ditch on the NE and the SE sides at the points where the outer rampart no longer survivies. The NE cutting revealed that the ditch had originally been about 8m deep and that the rampart behind it was timber-laced. The SE cutting was more informative, shwoing that the original ditch had been recut and the timber-laced rampart had been converted into one of glacis construction. This later rampart had been extended over the back of the ealier one and overlay a pit and post-hole which were not excavated. This evidence has been used to suggest that there was originally an undefended settlement on the site but it is clear that the evidence of settlement - the pit and post-hole - only predates the second phase of the rampart, not the first. Two orientated skeletons buried in the second phase of the rampart were discovered but no evidence of date was recovered.
Entrances - There are three entrances through the ramparts and the same certainly existed before the ironstone quarrying commenced. It is no longer possible to be certain whether any of these are original.
The Interior - Within the defences the original land surfaces probably sloped gently down from the SE to the NW. The ironstone quarrying altered this situation completely for the work commenced to the S of the new entrance and `digging nearly up to the edge of the scarp...gradually wheeled round to the north, working from the entrance as a pivot' (Dryden 1885-6, 55). Between 3m and 5m of material was removed in the operation but, because the ironstone ran out towards the SE, a small area in the SE corner of the interior was left unquarried. Today most of the land within the defences is uneven but the unquarried section is still visible in the SE, its W edge marked by a long scarp up to 2m high. In view of the discoveries made during the quarrying this fragment of the undisturbed interior is of considerable archaeological importance. Considerable amounts of pottery survive, including some fine examples of globular bowls with the distinctive `Hunsbury curvilinear' decoration. Although the presence of vessels decorated with applied cordons, extensive finger-tipping and incised geometric decoration may indicate activity on the site prior to the later (La Tene) Iron Age, the bulk of the pottery probably dates to no earlier than the 5th century BC. In view of the very small quantity of `early' material, and its very wide date range, it seems more reasonable to regard it as broadly contemporary with the later Iron Age pottery from the site rather than as indicative of a substantial phase of pre-La Tene occupation. The absence of Belgic material is, in an area with a high density of Belgic sites, also probably of some chronilogical significance. The earliest Belgic wares in this region appear from the later 1st century BC, and the Hunsbury pottery may, therefore, predate the final decades of the 1st century BC, certainly c.AD 25 at latest. (11)
The RCHM Inventory (Authority 11) includes further description of the earthworks, entrances and finds from the hillfort and surrounding area, RCHM plan and earthwork profiles, and a bibliography of 18th, 19th and 20th century sources up to 1976. (12)
Due to the threat of extensive erosion of the rampart on the north side, an excavation was carried out in 1988 on that area. The investigated area was 29m north of the present entrance on the western side of the hillfort.
The rampart was initially of a box type with its individual compartments filled in with marl and sandstone rubble which would have limestone wall also acting as a walkway. There is little doubt that this structure was eventually destroyed by fire. The only pottery and animal bones came from the original ground surface and this limestone wall.
Sandstone blocks spanned a position on a line with the front post revealed during the 1952 excavation. It is possible that posts at the front were set in a stone revetment although no slabs survived in slots.
The position of a series of transverse timbers was indicated by burning, standing stones, and channels of reddish brown loam which had apparently filtered down or tumbled into the voids left by decated timber.
The upper fill of the box rampart probably represents a seperate phase of construction (figs.9 and 10). Eventually the back of the rampart collapsed above the limestone layer. In some places there is evidence for rebuilding of the structure after the burning event. The finds:- 30 sherds only of pottery, all in a shelly fabric with comparable dating for the early-middle Iron Age. (13) (SP 738583). Hunsbury. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 1.7ha. (14) Additional reference with plan. (15)
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Details of hillfort on Pastscape
(SP 526348) Rainsborough Camp (LB) (1) Excavations of Rainsborough camp during 1961-5 revealed the following. A bivallate IA fort, the inner bank standing about 10ft above the interior, with a drop of about 15ft into the inner ditch; the second bank is very much lowered by ploughing, but still reaches a height of about 4ft on the S side, where a hedge line has protected it; the outer ditch is not visible on the surface except on the W, when it carries a higher growth of weeds.
?6th/5thc BC postholes and scatter of occupation debris before construction of the first rampart.
5thc BC double rampart and ditch with an inturned entrance on the west, having two stone-lined C-shaped guardrooms set into the inturns. The inner rampart being stone faced.
?Early 4thc BC period of occupation; inner ditch cleaned out followed by deliberate burning of fort.
?Late 2nd c BC double bank ditch, simple inner entrance, perhaps unfinished.
?Late 1st c AD RB pottery of this date found in outer ditch indicating occupation.
?Late 4th c AD stone foundations of a 10ft square RB building, (the floor of which contained 20 coins, ranging in date from the 3rd to 4th c AD were set upon the filled-in inner ditch near the inner entrance causeway.
In the 18thc the inner bank was heightened and inner ditch deepened; walling put round the summit of the inner bank for landscape gardening. Finds of early IA sherds dating from 6th to 2ndc BC, together with a bronze ring. (2)
"Numerous Roman coins have been turned up here of late in the process of agricultural cultivation". (3)
A plateau fort under permanent pasture and in fair condition despite many minor mutilations to the ramparts. See 1:2500
survey revised. The feature shown on Auth 2's plan and marked barrow is landscaping. (4) Nothing visible on air photographs. (5) No change to report of 10 2 70. Survey transferred to 1:2500 MSD. (6)
Hill Fort (SP 526348). The possibility that the fort was the centre of a large Iron Age estate which remained intact into the medieval period has been suggested. [RCHM plan and profile]. (7-8) SP 526 348. Rainsborough. Listed in gazetteer as a multivallate hillfort covering 2.5ha. (9) Rainsborough or Charlton Camp. Additional reference with plan. (10)
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Details of barrow on Pastscape
SP 53704546. Discovered during field investigation. A mound under pasture with a maximum diameter of 20.0m and a height of 0.7m; a surrounding slight non-surveyable ditch is visible - particularly on the east flank. Located on the crest of a spur about 160.0 a.s.l., its isolated position (no access roads/tracks are visible on OS air photographs (a), and general appearance suggest it to be a bowl barrow rather than a mill mound. CRO maps consulted; no informative information.
Surveyed on 1:2500 MSD. (1) Windmill Mound (SP 53704546) in the N of the parish, on Upper Lias Clay at 145 m. above OD. It is surrounded by ridge-and-furrow, but as it has been ploughed over in recent times (local inf) it is no longer possible to be certain whether the ridges pass under or around the mound. The field in which it stands was known as Windmill Ground in 1806. It has been interpreted elsewhere as a round barrow, but is more likely to be a windmill mound. (2)
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Details of barrow on Pastscape
(SP 7508 6774). Tumulus (NR) ('Longman's Hill' (NAT) printed adjacent). (1)
...The hill called Longman's Hill, being of an oblong shape about ten yards wide and not encompassed with a ditch. (2)
The remains of a tumulus called on Eyre's map of the County 'Lyman's Hill'. Upon cutting through it some years ago to widen the road skeletons were found. (3)
There is every reason to regard this as a genuine Long Barrow, probably of the unchambered type. Oblong, about 100 ft in length, about 30 ft wide, 7-8 ft high at the east end and 5-6 ft at the west. A farmer is said to have removed a quantity of bones from the east end and among the earth bones were found. (4)
Fourteen urns containing ashes and bones and portions of fused glass were recovered in 1882 from an area about 90 yards in length by 10 yards in width in a field adjoining Brampton Lane in Pitsford. Half of the urns were plain and half decorated, pieces of 'brass' were also recovered. (Dryden's note is headed 'A Roman Tumulus a Pitsford'. Otherwise he make no reference to a tumulus but simply describes and sketches the objects found. He does not refer to Longman's (or Lyman's) Hill by name, but his siting description, the oblong dimensions, and the lack of other barrows in the vicinity make it virtually certain that this was the place. His sketches show one plain and one decorated Saxon Urn, two pieces of glass (one apparently most of a claw beaker) and a split socket spear head some 15 inches long). (5)
An oblong moumd, surveyed at 1/2500. It has been much disturbed by road and gardens and in its present form (preserved by the Local Council with a plaque saying it is a Bronze Age barrow) is unclassifiable without excavation. As it was oblong when Morton wrote, that presumably was its original shape, but I do not think it was a Long Barrow, and all the finds suggest that it was concerned with a Saxon Cemetery and nothing else. (6) No change. (7) RCHM plan and additional references. (8)
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Details of earthworks on Pastscape
(SP 6317 5657) to SP 6328 5680) EARTHWORKS (LB) (1)
On the N side of the road to Stowe, where it bends to the NE, is an entrenchment in a foss cover. It consists of a double trenched foss, c 6" deep. (2) "In the Earl of Danby's time (c 1600) there were two parks at Stowe, contiguous with each other, well stocked with deer, which upon the complaint of the tenants have since been converted to another use". (The double ditch could well be the remains of a deer leap). (3) Although scheduled under secular works and sites (a) this feature is not an antiquity. The earthworks comprise three parallel banks apparently made up of soil and spoil. This is a typical result of a particular kind of surface quarrying which involves clearing a relatively small working area spread over a broad front. Similar workings on a larger industrial scale are to be seen in this county east of Corby. Published survey cancelled.(a) (4) RCHM rejects interpretation of the linear earthworks (centred SP 6325 5670) as a result of quarrying, or that they are 19th century military works for cannon associated with Weedon Barracks, or a medieval warren. A more acceptable explanation is that they are part of a linear boundary of prehistoric date, possibly reused at a later date as part of a deer park boundary (SP 65 NW 29). [RCHM plan and profile]. Air photographs show that the feature continued N.E. for at least 180m (5)
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Details of barrow on Pastscape
(SP 74716589) Tumulus (AT) (1)
Photograph of the barrow (?) exhibited in Northampton Museum. (2) Probably a barrow, situated in an arable field. In fair condition, it is tree covered and has been disturbed on top where an excavation was attempted by a student who encountered roots and abandoned the project. No ditch is evident. See annotated 25" survey. (3)
Barrow,pits and ditches(centred SP 74756585),E and SE of Boughton Grange on Northampton Sand at 106m above OD. The mound, which stands on the N edge of the field, is tree covered, and an attempted excavation shortly before 1968 was not completed because of the roots. The mound is 2.2m high and 15m in diam. and no ditch is visible. Two pits or ditches were found in the face of the ironstone quarry in the same field in 1973. From one of these came a sherd of a Neolithic or Bronze Age vessel with a pronounced shoulder-ridge and finger-nail decoration on the collar (SP 74746569). Several worked flints have been found in the same field;air photographs in NMR.(4)
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Details of barrow on Pastscape
[SP 55934716) Tumulus (LB) Barrow Hill. (1)
There is a barrow below Barrow Hill, one mile N of Sulgrave, on the S side of Banbury Lane. (2)
A bowl barrow located on the crest of Barrow Hill, with a good outlook to the S. It is some 22.0m diameter, and 2.0m high on the N.side, but mutilation by rabbits, etc, has badly distorted its profile on the S.side. On the N.side there is a slight trace of ditch in the lusher vegetation at the base of the mound. AM survey 1:2500. (3)
Mound (SP 5594716) may be the site of a medieval windmill. (4)
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Details of barrows on Pastscape
"Barrowhill in the parish of Kings-swinford. Two uniform barrows all rock". (1)
"Early Burial Mound or Low. Barrowhill east of Pensnett Churchyard. Circular. Diameter 99ft, 30ft high. Altitude 500ft". (2)
No trace of these barrows was seen in perambulation of Barrow Hill, centred at SO 91608960. The hill has been extensively quarried. (3) Plot (1) refers to two barrows at Barrow Hill, whose height is below 400 feet. VCH (2) refers to one barrow, east of Pensnett churchyard, at 500 feet altitude.
Eight hundred metres east of the church is Low Town at 526 feet, now fully developed with housing and instury, centred at SO 92458910. (4) It would seem that two separate sites are indicated.
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Details of barrow on Pastscape
(SP 02539992) Tumulus (NR). (1)
Some years ago, a trench 22 ins deep was dug on the top of the tumulus at Rushall Hall. Many fragments of human bones together with "a few Saxon coins" were found. (2)
The centre of the barrow was dug to a depth of 3ft by Mr Bird in c 1955. The bowl of an 18th century clay-pipe fragments of black glazed pottery, possibly 18th century, and an indeterminate fragment of bone were found (a). This oval mound is 16.0m E-W by 13.5m N-S and 2.2m high, with no visible ditch, and overgrown by trees and shrubs. There are slight indications of Mr Bird's digging. An engraving of 1845, in Mr Bird's possession, shows the mound lower and more bowl-shaped than the present steep-sided, conical profile. (3) No change. Published 1:1250 survey revised. (4) No change to field reports of 27 5 58 and 19 8 74. Revised 1:1250 AM survey still correct. MSD revised. (5)
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Details of barrow on Pastscape
Between Shire Oak and Frog-hall is a barrow called Catt's Hill. (1) Cat's Hill on Ogley Hay - two barrows. (2)
Catshill, Cutteslowe or Catteslowe - the tumulus there was cut through when the canal was made; it was much defaced with a few scrubby oaks now upon it. The mound forms the boundary of the manors of Walsall, Ogley Hall and Little Wyrley, and stands near the foot of the western slope of Shire Oak Hill. (3)
SK 05020496 - at the junction of the parish boundaries of Walsall Wood, Shire Oak and Ogley Hay there are the traces of a possible barrow.
On the south-east side of a hedgerow at this point is a slight mound, c. 18.0 m. in diameter and 0.8 m. high, with no visible ditch. It is under grass. There is no trace of it on the other side of the hedgerow where it has probably been destroyed by a path. The position answers part of the descriptions given by the literary authority but it has, obviously not been cut through by the canal. No other traces of a barrow were seen along the canal or in the area. (4)
SK 05150481. Mound. Site now built over but bump remains in hedge alongside canal. Mound disfigured when canal cut. (5)
The S quadrant of a round barrow remains at SK 05010495 as described by F1. Surveyed at 1:1250.
No traces of a barrow were found alongside the canal. At Gould's siting is a large spoil heap which would have buried any
previous mound as described by Gould. (6) No change since reports of 27.5.58 and 14.8.74. (7)
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Details of hill-fort on Pastscape
[SK 0620 0330] FORT [OE] (Spearheads and Arrowheads found). (1)
Castle Old Fort, Shenstone is classified as a hill-fort. It is egg-shaped in plan; its extreme inner length c.171 yds. width, 138 yds. The inner rampart is fairly complete and there was apparently an outer bank and ditch. The north-west defences have been destroyed together with the entrance that was probably here. [See AO/55/111/1 for a photo-reproduction of the plan]. (2) Two entrances on the south-east and north-west. A barbed flint arrowhead, Roman pottery and coins of Otto, Domitian, and Nero have been found here. (3)
Castle Old Fort is an ovoid, univallate hill-fort occupying the south-eastern end of a ridge. The defences comprise a bank and ditch with counterscarp bank. They have been destroyed by quarrying at the north-western quadrant and mutilated elsewhere by carriage drives and ornamental gardening to the house which now occupies the interior. No trace of any entrances was seen. No further information on the 17th c. finds was gained. A 25" survey has been made. (4) No change - survey of 1958 correct. (5) No change since reports of 21.4.58 and 9.9.74. (6) Listed by Challis and Harding as a univallate hillfort, of 3.5 acres, now mutilated and destroyed. (7)
SK 062 033. Castle Ring Old Fort. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 1.5ha. (8)
The hillfort, centred at SK 0620 0330, was surveyed at 1:1000 by RCHME in 1988. Much of the original defences of the hillfort of Castle Old Fort survive (as described by Authority 4), but are in poor condition. The main ditch is traceable around the entire circuit with the exception of the NW and SE corners of the fort where extensive quarrying has virtually destroyed the ramparts. An outer bank is visible in places, but this is quite diffuse - to the north it has clearly been over-ploughed with narrow ridge and furrow. It is possible that a broad external bank to the SW of the fort is not directly associated with the ramparts and may instead represent a cultivation headland. Narrow ridge and furrow also covers much of the fort interior on an east-west orientation, and this has affected the preservation of the inner rampart. Down the west side the ridge and furrow appear to overlie the inner rampart, whilst at the east the inner scarp has been sharpened by ploughing; a low bank toward the southern end is probably associated with later cultivation rather than with the original defences. The fort has internal measurements of 170m north to south and 130m transversely. The remains of a simple in-turned entrance are visible in the rampart in the SE of the fort. This entrance remained in use until the construction of The Castle Fort house, at which time the gap was closed. A second blocked gap is discernable in the SW rampart; this appears to have been in use until at least 1923 (9a). A former track way associated with the SE entrance is still discernable as a narrow terrace extending from the breach in the rampart in a NW direction for a distance of around 90m. No evidence of a former entrance in the NW of the fort was found, and a breach in the centre of the N rampart does not appear to be original. Numerous track ways now dissect the fort interior, principally a means of access to a reconstructed house within the fort (SK 00 SE 12). Full RCHME survey information, including a detailed report, is available in the NMR Archive. (9)
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Details of mound on Pastscape
At the back of Aldridge church is a small tumulus. (1) A mound north of Aldridge church is supposed to be the burial place of a chief. (2) SK 06140101 - this mound is shown but not described on OS 6", 1913-38. It is 28.0 m. in average diameter and 2.2 m. high with traces of a ditch on the east and west. It has been mutilated by quarrying. It falls on high ground on the northern crest of an east-west ridge, at the edge of a playing-field. It is accepted locally as a barrow and is probably the feature referred to by the 19th c. literary references. Certain identification of the mound as a barrow is not possible in its present condition. (3) Mound situated in field known as Windmill Flat suggesting it is a mill mound. (4) Surveyed at 1/2500. (5) No change since reports of 8.10.58 and 16.8.74. 1:2500 survey still correct. (6)
Windmill field appears in undated extracts from medieval court rolls compiled for a 17th century brief. (7a) Many other 17th century references to Windmill field in deeds etc. (7)
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Details of hill-fort on Pastscape
(SO 91908180) Wychbury Hill (TI) Camp (NR).
Wychbury Camp is a contour, multi-vallate hill-fort with complex defences enclosing 7 1/4 acres and an annexe of 5 1/2 acres on the south.
The entrances on the north-east and south-west sides of the fort are formed by incurved ramparts, the latter being approached by a wide track bounded by ditches. An excavation by E B Marten in 1884 produced two small bronze rings, since lost, but one of which was identified as an Early Iron Age terret by the British Museum.
Several Roman coins in adjacent fields may indicate Romano-British occupation. (Coin hoard also found nearby-see SO 98 SW 5).
The hill-fort has been badly damaged by tracks. Published survey (1:2500, 1923-4) has been revised.
Iron Age field system, Wychbury Hill. Wychbury Ring, an Iron Age bivallate hillfort, measures internally 250.0m east-west by 150.0m transversely.
The inner rampart is from 16.0m to 20.0m in width and up to 2.6m in height internally. It drops 6.0 to 8.0m to the foot of the inner ditch which is up to 10.0m in width and 1.7m in depth. The outer rampart is best preserved on the south side where it is 10.0m in width and rises from 2.0 to 3.0m from the outer ditch. The latter averages 10.0m in width and is up to 1.2m in depth. On the north side the inner ditch is silted up and the outer bank reduced to a lynchet-like slope. There are no traces of the outer ditch on the north west and north sides. The ramparts are boldly inturned at the entrances of the east and south west. The track with ditches leading to the latter entrance, referred to by Cantrill(2), is modern.
The 'annexe', also referred to by Cantrill, is non-existent. An old hollow-way, some 2.0m deep, 80.0m south of the hillfort, has been mistaken for outworks. A perambulation of the arable slopes below wooded Wychbury Hill produced no traces of an Iron Age field system. Several fields on the north east and south east sides contain traces of rig and furrow and in one field in particular, centred at SO 92158197, it is better preserved than elsewhere and the baulks, separating areas of rig running in differing directions, might have been mistaken for an Iron Age system when viewed from the hill-fort. (Aston (5))
Published 1:2500 survey 1969 revised.
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Details of long barrow on Pastscape
Neolithic long barrow excavated in 1852; skeletons and a Roman coin found. The long barrow can no longer be located on the ground or on aerial photographs.
SU 336 843. A small long (probably oval) mound on Moss Hill, Sparsholt, excavated by Martin Atkins in 1852. It contained a "straight setting of sarsens" at the broad end, one of which impinged on a skeleton. Three other skeletons were found `huddled together'. Case suggests a small chambered long barrow or a pillow mound; he was unable to locate the site which may now be inside the wood which has been enlarged. A coin in the Atkins bequest in the British Museum described as "Bronze coin, 3rd brass, from Long Barrow", may come from this site (3). (1-3) This mound could not be located on the ground, nor is it visible on R.A.F air photographs. Atkins excavation report seems to make it quite clear that this is not a pillow mound. (4) Other reference. (5) The Neolithic long barow described by the previous authorities could not be identified on any of the available aerial photographs consulted during a survey of the area. (6)
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Details of stone on Pastscape
A single prehistoric standing stone known as the Hawk Stone on a natural crest on Spelsbury Down, 900 metres west of Spelsburydown Farm. The single oolitic limestone monolith is believed to stand in its original position. Although it has been suggested that the monument might be all that remains of a portal dolmen (a rare type of burial chamber), there are no surviving associated orthostats or other evidence available at present to support this claim. The stone measures approximately 1 metre by 0.9 metres at its base and tapers to 0.9 metres at the apex which is 2.3 metres above the present ground level. It stands upright and to remain balanced must have at least one third of its total length buried below ground level. A concave hollow in its upper face is known to have been worn over time by people rubbing it for luck, although it may originally have been natural in origin. Scheduled.
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Details of stones on Pastscape
Stone circle situated in Stonor Park, near Stonor House. It has been moved from its original site.
1. [SU 7433 8916] "A Folly here which the owner believed may have been made from a Stone Circle. (1)
SU 7432 8913 (A) A stone circle composed of sarsens and pudding stones which, from the evidence of a photograph of c. 1873,
formerly stood at SU 7428 8917 (B). The owner, Maj. S. Stonor believes, however, that this is not the original site. (2)
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Details of long barrow on Pastscape
Long barrow, in South 'Lawn pollards' common, near Hensgrove Copse (destroyed). (Name South Lawn SP 291138) (a). (1)
There is what appears to be a long narrow barrow or two long barrows touching with a lower part in the middle, at Ladihame Corner. (Name SP 293136). (2) At SP 29331387 there is a stony mound 75.0m long, orientated NW-SE (310o-130o), 20.0m wide, and 0.5m high, except at the ends. The ends are spread to a width of 25.0m and surmounted by a mound 13.0m in diameter which at the NW end is 1.1m high and at the SE end 0.9m high. At the SE end on the W side are traces of a ditch 0.4m deep which does not go round the end. The ditch appears to go round the NW end. There are no large stones suggesting chambers. The dumb-bell plan may result from excavation but there is no evidence that the end mounds have been trenched. A woodland ride or trackway, 12.0m wide, is depicted on the OS 25" 1919, crossing midway along the long axis which may account for the flattened central part though here there is a cross trench. It appears to be a long barrow, though rather mutilated, and has been surveyed at 1:2500 on PFD. (3)
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Details of long barrow on Pastscape
'A barrow called 'Round Hill' on the north side of the lane leading from Bloxham to Milton, 72ft. in length and 12ft. high, was partially destroyed in 1867 and a skull found.' (Name 'Round Hill' not recorded on any OS. publications).(1) (1-2)
'Long barrow SP 442350 had its lower end flattened when road was made but the main end is untouched in a field on N. of road. When the ditch was cleaned a piece of closely packed small small stoned walling was visible in the middle' (Nothing visible on available A/P's). (3) This area was surveyed from aerial photographs as part of the SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS NMP project. No sign of the long barrow was visible at this location on any of the available aerial photographs dating back to 1946 (4).
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Hail and Welcome
Chance was born in Ratae in the year of the Rat, and grew up in the territory of the Corieltauvi.
Now living days walk west of Wale-dich (Avebury), on the border between the Atrebates, the Durotriges and the Dobunni.
Practical experience of excavation on Neolithic, Bronze-age, Roman sites.
Interested in the various tribes, how they divided their land, their agricultural calendar, common beliefs and ritual systems.
Often attends the tribal meetings held at Avebury and Stonehenge.
Contact - Chippychance on UTube
http://www.youtube.com/chippychance
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